minecraft

The world is filled with questions, so many questions that’s hard to tell which one to answer first.

And then some questions are just unanswerable, even if you’re asking the smart people at MineCon ’16, the annual Minecraft Convention.

One little boy asked said question, and it has left us stunned. Pulling the plush purple pig off the top of his head and raising his hand to get the moderator’s attention, the boy asked simply: “How do you know if somebody is acting as if they were a good person, but in reality, they’re technically not a very good person?”

All a Virginia Beach mother wanted to do was order a foam Minecraft sword for her son's eighth birthday from Toys R Us. Well, apparently, someone in that supply line had a sh*tload of ammunition they wanted to get rid of.

Because when the online shopper opened the UPS delivered package Sept. 30, that's what she found.

People in Turkey are really worried that “Minecraft” is going to turn their kids into hardened criminals.

The country’s Family and Social Policies Ministry has launched an investigation into the game after receiving numerous complaints from parents that the game encourages violence (particularly towards women), according to Hurriyet Daily News.

Apparently Turkey hasn’t heard of GTA V.

“In the higher levels of the game the player may need to kill women, allies and even friends for survival reasons,” the article says.

Minecraft is probably one of the least violent games in existence right now, with a majority of the game devoted to hours of mining, farming and building a life in a blocky, pixelated sandbox where anything is possible.

According to the report:

If the ministry’s investigation decides that the game encourages violence, the ministry will proceed by opening a law suit against the game for a country-wide ban.

This isn’t the first time “Minecraft” has been accused of promoting violence.

Visitors to PETA's custom-made digital island will explore vast expanses of landscapes where the animals of Minecraft roam free. They can also visit extensive vegetable and flower gardens, walk through a fantastic re-creation of PETA's HQ, and discover an abandoned and decaying slaughterhouse.

PETA has gone to the aid of video game animals before, including Pokemon, World of Warcraft seals, the Tanooki suit in Mario Bros., and dogs in Call of Duty.

Since early 2012 modder Killerx20, along with the help of some others, has been working on the project. He has finally released his recreation and it is incredible. You can download the map right here!

"As a lot are probably wondering," Killerx20 writes, "yes, more then 85% of this build WAS indeed hand-placed. The only things that were not are the outer plates, tower, and reactors BUT that doesn't mean they were completed when imported, they were basically detail-less empty shells and I wanted it that way so everything on/inside them had to be hand placed for optimal detail."

I don't see myself as a real game developer. I make games because it's fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don't make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don't try to change the world. Minecraft certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it's changed games. I never meant for it to do either. It's certainly flattering, and to gradually get thrust into some kind of public spotlight is interesting.

As soon as this deal is finalized, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments. If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I'll probably abandon it immediately.

Meanwhile, Microsoft celebrates their huge acquisition in the video above.